Interpretation of SEC Chair: "All US assets will be fully on-chain within 2 years"

Author: Nathan on RWA

December 8 News, according to Forbes, the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, stated in a live interview with Fox News that the entire U.S. financial market is expected to shift within the next two years toward blockchain technology supporting Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Atkins said, “This is how the world will be; it may not take 10 years, perhaps just two years. The next step will come with digital assets, market digitization, and tokenization, which will bring huge benefits in transparency and risk management.”

I reviewed the full original interview video carefully and extracted the core viewpoints as follows:

1. Tokenization is the next development stage of the U.S. financial market

Atkins indicated that the U.S. capital markets are entering a new era of digital assets and market digitization, with tokenization and on-chain settlement being key components and directions for modernizing traditional markets.

2. On-chain settlement can significantly enhance efficiency

He mentioned:

• Current market transactions and settlements involve time lags (T+1 / T+2)
• Blockchain can enable real-time settlement
• Helps reduce counterparty risk and improve market transparency

3. “Full on-chain” progress faster than most expect — possibly only a few years

He made a provocative point: the shift of capital markets toward tokenization may happen “faster than everyone thinks,” possibly within a couple of years. Many media outlets interpret this as: in about 2 years, the U.S. financial market could fully go on-chain.

4. Project Crypto paves the way for regulatory framework upgrades

Atkins incorporates tokenization into the SEC’s global strategy:

• Clarify the regulatory classification of digital assets (token taxonomy)
• Optimize securities law adaptation
• Build more efficient, verifiable market infrastructure

5. The U.S. aims to stay ahead in the fintech competition

He mentioned:

• The U.S. cannot allow innovation to migrate to other jurisdictions
• Compliant-friendly tokenization will attract capital, issuers, and global enterprises

However, if we view this grand plan through the lens of global monetary shifts, the U.S. debt-based economic model, and geopolitical financial competition, a deeper and more urgent strategic intent emerges:

It is a systemic project aimed at digitizing and consolidating the dollar’s global dominance in the era of digitalization, thereby extending the lifespan of the U.S. economic model.

1. The “Digital Lifeboat” of U.S. Globalization: From Trade Settlement Currency to Digital Value Carrier

The pillars supporting the traditional U.S. dollar system are weakening. According to IMF data, the dollar’s share in global official foreign exchange reserves has fallen from over 70% at the beginning of this century to about 58% in Q4 2023. While still the dominant currency, this long-term downward trend reflects the cumulative effects of de-dollarization efforts and the budding multipolar currency landscape.

Meanwhile, a private-sector-led, blockchain-based digital dollar system is surging. Data from CoinMarketCap and others show that stablecoins like USDT (Tether) and USDC have a combined market cap exceeding $150 billion, accounting for over 99% of the entire stablecoin market. Attempts with other sovereign currencies’ stablecoins, such as the euro and yen, have almost faded into insignificance.

Core Insight 1: The success of stablecoins essentially establishes a global, 24/7 “Digital Dollar Highway” outside traditional banking and SWIFT networks. It allows the dollar to penetrate global trade, remittances, and the digital economy more efficiently and inclusively. As IMF’s “official dollar” share in reserves slowly declines, the “on-chain dollar” share is expanding exponentially. Fully asset-on-chain means all dollar-denominated assets—stocks, bonds, real estate—are “mounted” onto this highway, with the fundamental goal of elevating the dollar’s global role from a “trade settlement currency” to an unshakable “digital store of value and investment asset,” reversing its decline in traditional fields.

2. The “Digital Path” for U.S. Debt: From National Reserves to Global (Universal) Holdings

The U.S. economy operates on a cycle of “trade deficits exporting dollars, capital surpluses returning to buy U.S. debt.” This cycle’s sustainability depends on the endless global demand for U.S. debt. Now, major central banks and sovereign wealth funds are becoming more cautious about increasing U.S. debt holdings, creating a vacuum in the role of “big buyers.”

At this point, stablecoin issuers like Tether have emerged strongly. As entities required to hold full reserves, they allocate most of their funds into short-term U.S. Treasuries. According to their public audits, by the end of 2023, Tether’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries exceeded $80 billion. If viewed as a sovereign economy, Tether ranks as the 22nd largest U.S. debt holder globally, ahead of many countries.

Core Insight 2: Stablecoins are not just digital dollars but also a “retailized” and “globalized” distribution channel for U.S. debt. Every individual or business holding USDT in Argentina, Nigeria, or Southeast Asia is indirectly funding U.S. Treasuries. Full asset on-chain means expanding this model from a single “cash-like stablecoin” to all asset categories. In the future, a retail investor in Vietnam could directly buy and trade fractionalized shares of Apple, U.S. Treasury ETFs, or commercial real estate through blockchain-based tokenization. This effectively builds a “digital pipeline” for the U.S. capital surplus to the global middle class and retail investors, greatly broadening the buyer base for U.S. debt and dollar assets, and providing a new, continuous source of financing for U.S. fiscal deficits and debt economy.

3. The Ultimate Digital “Harvest”: The High-Speed Highway of Capital Surplus

The foundation of the U.S. as a nation is its ability to convert global savings into investments in its debt and assets via financial and legal systems, maintaining low interest rates, high consumption, and leading high-tech investments.

Core Insight 3: Fully on-chain U.S. assets represent the ultimate digitalization and efficiency revolution of this “harvesting” process.

1. Lower investment barriers globally: Tokenization enables fragmentation of high-value U.S. assets, allowing investors worldwide to participate at very low costs, vastly expanding the potential buyer pool.
2. Accelerate capital flows and increase transparency: 24/7 real-time settlement means global capital can move in and out of U.S. assets at unprecedented speed and flexibility, responding to Fed policies or market opportunities, reinforcing dollar asset liquidity premiums.
3. Strengthen network lock-in effects: Once global investors get accustomed to trading and custody in compliant, efficient U.S. on-chain financial markets, strong path dependence and ecosystem stickiness will form. The entire financial system’s standards, rules, and tech stack will revolve around the U.S., creating a “Bretton Woods 2.0” in the digital age.

Conclusion: A Quiet Revolution in Financial Order

Therefore, Paul Atkins’s remarks are far from just a technical outlook. They are a strategic declaration, revealing the U.S. financial elite’s sober recognition and radical response to internal debt pressures and external currency competition.